1. Field of the Invention
The following invention refers to an apparatus for erecting and fixing a set of elements for the practice of games, such as tennis, paddle, volleyball, badminton, and other similar sports in courts with a net, and more particularly the invention deals with an apparatus preferably applicable to the erection and fixing of, for example, a net, guys, and ropes used for practicing games such as tennis, paddle, volleyball, badminton, and other similar sports.
2. Description of the Related Art
The state of the art proves that no other devices which are known of may be compared with the apparatus described in this invention. However, a brief description is given next on the way nets are usually mounted on courts for playing tennis, paddle, volleyball, badminton, and other similar sports, for the purpose of showing the fundamental concepts which allow one to better appreciate the novelty and merit of this invention.
Indeed, anybody may notice the way in which tennis and paddle courts are set up, either for professional or amateur use, in various locations on a beach, on club grounds, or on private residences and/or gardens, and on all types of surfaces including natural and/or synthetic grass, cement, etc. In any of such cases, the net spreads between two posts standing on both sides of the court and is tied to them and tightened by ropes and tensioning devices. In courts used for professional tournaments, as well as those built on club grounds or public recreational areas, the posts may be made out of hard wood, metal, and/or any other resistant and/or rigid material, and are usually permanently imbedded in the ground. So, such courts and sports fields always keep the characteristics which are required for practicing the same game, even when the net has been removed. In other words, the posts which hold the tensioning devices, as well as the other elements which are used to bound the court, stand permanently in place.
Whereas the aforementioned system is convenient for such permanent lay-outs, it is certainly not so convenient when practicing sports on the beach, in gardens, or in residential parks. Indeed in such cases, the practice of sports, such as tennis, is mostly occasional; that is, there frequently is no exclusive area for such sports practice, nor are there strong posts or tensioning devices readily available, nor are the elements required for if a establishing the boundaries of the court readily available.
Moreover, when one wishes to practice such sports in residential areas not exclusively reserved for such use or purposes, the installation of permanent poles undoubtedly is a nuisance to the general appearance of the site, which is not desirable, and it may also hinder the daily usage of these areas.
The invention, which is explained further herein, is a solution to these inconveniences, which not only provides an effective apparatus for mounting and fixing the elements which are required for practicing the mentioned example court-based games, but also may be applied to new sports which are variations of the traditional ones and for which, at the present time, there are no appropriate installations.
Indeed, the proposed solution allows for the practice of both traditional sports such as tennis, volleyball, badminton, paddle, deck-tennis, or eventually any combination of any of these games which results in a new form of entertainment, physical exercise, and even sports competitions in the most varied places.
Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for erecting and fixing a set of elements for the practice of games in courts with a net, preferably applicable to erecting and fixing, for example, a net suspended between end poles and tightened by the use of guys, and other elements which are used to determine the boundaries and/or special areas for practicing games such as tennis, paddle, volleyball, badminton, and other similar sports, in which each one of the poles which holds the net is a bearing tubular assembly composed of at least one section. This bearing tubular assembly includes an upper part for fastening and lateral tensioning the net by the use of guys, and a lower part which may be removed from the ground. Furthermore, the apparatus includes a set of stakes for anchoring the poles, each one of which include an upper segment for hooking the guys which tighten the poles, and a lower segment which may also be removed from the ground. Furthermore, the apparatus includes tubular sockets built into the ground, which provide anchoring for the lower portion of the net poles and of each one of the stakes. It is to be noted that these anchoring tubular sockets pipes may not be necessary, and so are optional, when the court is built on sand.
The following invention refers to an apparatus for erecting and fixing a set of elements for the practice of games in courts with a net, and more particularly deals with an apparatus preferably applicable to the erection and fixing of, for example, a net, guys, and ropes used for practicing games such as tennis and other similar sports. However, the apparatus of the present invention may also be applied to erect the elements which are needed for playing other games or sports such as volleyball, badminton, paddle, and the ancient deck-tennis. The disclosed apparatus may be used, as described herein, either outdoors or indoors and on wooden surfaces as well as on cement, sand, and/or grass, just to mention the most usual cases.
An apparatus is also disclosed for erecting and fixing a set of elements for the practice of games in courts with a net, preferably applicable to the erection and fixing of, for example, a net suspended and tightened between a pair of poles by the use of guys, and other elements used for establishing the limits and/or predetermined zones for practicing games such as tennis, paddle, badminton and similar sports. Each one of the poles which fixes the net is defined by a bearing tubular assembly including, preferably, three sections which are fitted axially together. The tubular assembly has an upper section for holding and fixing the net using ropes, and a lower section which lodges into the ground in a removable way.
The apparatus includes sets of anchoring stakes for tightening the tubular assembly, which have an upper segment which fixes guys for tightening the tubular assembly, and suspended strings which detect any player who attempts to or does trespass the limits of the forbidden zone of the court; and a lower segment which is also lodged into the ground in a removable way. The lower sections of the tubular assemblies which support the net and the lower segments of the anchoring stakes which tighten the tubular assemblies are respectively lodged in pipes imbedded in the ground, which define anchoring sockets for the lower sections of the tubular assemblies and for the lower segments of the anchoring stakes.